Goodbye Duante
 

Just four years ago the young man threw 39 TD passes, had an otherworldly 111 QB Rating, and was supposedly destined for the Hall of Fame in a Moss made offense.

Earlier today he retired via E-mail. He says he contacted 14 NFL teams in the off-season and none wanted him.

It's too bad it took so long for the leauge to finally figure out the guy can't play now. In my opinion, he never could.

Is there anything this guy doesn't do by e-mail?

getting lap dances on a boat?

Remember his knee got shredded. Sure, he was never a great passer but the combination of running and throwing made him highly effective for a while. To say he was never any good? That is harsh. One receiever isnt going to get a QB those kind of numbers. He had to possess some kind of skill.

Drugs has an unhealthy obsession with Randy Moss, so of course the idea that anyone throwing to him had talent is blasphemy. Culpepper was a good QB before the knee injury. Without mobility he got scared while having to sit in the pocket and was no longer effective. Losing Moss of course didn't help.

What I don't get it why would he retire? So he's eligible for the HOF sooner where he'll never get a vote? Isn't it easier to stay unretired and hope someone gets desperate and throws a million at you?

He's not retired. He's a drama queen who loves sending mass e-mails for attention.

Ah, a Favre, except with less interceptions.

You really think Favre knows how to send an e-mail?

Benefits package starts sooner.

Good point, but would have have really thought Culpepper knew how to send one? Maybe that is what their agents are for, they don't seem to do much else but give bad advice and then take a cut.

He played 7 games after he ran Moss out of Minnesota AND before the injury to his knee.

He had the lowest passer rating of his entire career - he threw 6 TD's versus 12 INT's lost 3 fumbles and his team, who had won a playoff game the year prior, was 1-6 at the time he went down.

The '98 Vikings, a 15-1 team, had the highest scoring offense in NFL history and held it for nine years. Moss caught 17 TD's from a decrepid Randall Cunningham that year.

The '07 Patriots, a 16-0 team, broke the '98 Vikings record for the highest scoring offense in NFL history. Moss caught 23 TD passes from Tom Brady, and Brady almost doubled his career best prior year for TD passes.

However, the most brillaint achievement of Randy's career was not that, or the 53 TD passes he caught in just two years of college - it was the fact that he fooled so many people into thinking Culpepper was a good NFL quarterback for five straight years.

He had a tryout with the Steelers when Batch got hurt. He was offered a contract but refused it because he had no opportunity to start. If he really wanted to play he could, he is above competing for a job, he feels he is entitled to one. He has no interest in helping the other QB'S, he is a prima donna and therefore unemployed.

Big Ben and Batch are both much better QB's.

Culpepper is a human turnover machine when the middle of the field isn't open for him all game long.

In Culpepper's finest season, 2004, he threw for 39 touchdowns and ran for 2 more with 4717 yards while throwing just two picks. This was Moss's WORST season outside of his last one in Oakland which shouldnt even count. He played in 13 games caught 767 yards.

How would one explain that season if Culpepper was "never any good" and owed his success entirely to Moss?

i thought he and leftwich both tried out, with the team choosing byron?

You don't know what you're talking about.

Moss caught 13 Touchdowns in 13 games that Regular Season - and had a 2 Touchdown and a 100+ yard game in a road playoff win at GB in the wild card.

Culpepper put up huge numbers that year with repetitive rinky-dink passes to wideopen recievers and tight-ends underneath while the Vikings trailed big and needed quick scores to get back in the game. He would slowly take them 70 yards with the clock bleeding and than come away with nothing when the D tightened up by the endzone.

You know who the leading reciever was on the team that year? It was Jermaine Wiggins - a 275lbs tight end who is now out of the leauge. He caught 75 passes and was virtually uncovered all year long.

I happen to watch all of there games that year - so save me your stats.

Moss caught 13 tds in 13 games but only had 757 yards with less than 50 catches...his worst season in minny which paved the road for them getting rid of him in the offseason.

Rinky dink passes? Intesting. Culpepper had the HIGHEST YARDS PER ATTEMPT in his career in that year with 8.6 per attempt and he finished with a rating of 110.

You say "came away with nothing" and the guy throws for 39 tds (26 werent to moss) and ran for 2 more.

And everyone remembers the Green bay game...it was the one where Moss "mooned" the crowd. Hilarious.

And i may not know what i am talking about but i guess neither do the fans, coaches and players that named him all pro...twice.

You didn't watch any of the games. All the coverage rolled to Moss and others guys were wide open. Some of Culpepper's biggest games came in losing efforts. In the 3 games Moss didn't play - they lost the first two - and needed two late touchdowns to beat the hapless Lions 22-19 in the other.

A decrepid Randell Cunningham, who had been out of the leauge for a few years prior, won the entire leauge MVP. An over-the-hill Jeff George was voted to the Pro Bowl and put up huge numbers in his lone 3/4 of a season with the Vikes as a starter.

Todd Bowman and Gus Ferrote - who both started two or three games apeice for the Vikes both won NFC Offensive player of the week awards as Vikes QBs with Moss.

Moss isn't an underneath or over the middle guy - he's a vertical guy who opens the field and creates mis matches all over. He doesn't need to have a single pass thrown his way to have a huge impact on the game.

Culpepper ran him out of Minny after 2004 - and now it's nice to see the agent/qb/imbecile out of the leauge.

The Vikings ranked fourth in total offense in 2004 while defense ranked 26th. Again, lets not let FACTS get in the way of an offbased position.

I know what kind of player Moss is. I know he doesnt need to catch passes to have impact. We are all aware of the credentials. At the same time, Culpepper had a few GREAT YEARS. Regardless of how great Moss is, Daunte still had to deliver. In 2004 he did. And the leading receiver yards wise was Nate Burleson.

No...DC didnt even try out from what I understand. Pitt was offereing him the league minimun to compete for the 3rd QB position. I think Green Bay offered him $1 mill to serve as Rodgers back-up, but he refused that as well.

Someone will go down and he'll get a call and make more money with the short vacation. He's an OK QB, nothing special but that's half of all the QB's out there.

Yes - he managed to hit wide open guys underneath all year long in route to an 8-8 season. You should quit while you're behind.


It was probably this kind of thinking that led to Culpepper destroying all of the fantasy football teams who drafted him in 2005 when he couldn't get out of his own way.

Nate Burleson? He was the Wes Welker of that offense! Feasting on linebackers and safteys in one on one coverage. How has Nate been doing lately?

If your position is that Moss was more respsonible for Daunte's success than vise versa, i agree. If it is that Moss was the catalyst for Minny from the time he was there until he left, then i also agree with that. He is in my mind the most talented receiver ever to step foot on a field.

But to say that Daunte was never any good? That to me is just a bad opinion that ignores obvious facts. Bad QB's dont have seasons like 2004 especially without their top WR producing. Its that simple.

Nate Burleson had 9 tds last season. I think that lead his team...a playoff team.

He's good at exploiting obvious mismatches. That's about it.

Well, regardless, i can tell you are a huge Randy Moss fan as am I. I met Daunte once while i was vacationing with the family in Atlantis. Back then (2002) he was a humble gentleman that took the time to chat it up and didnt fail to tip the staff (as you know, a rarity with a lot of athletes). I was impressed.

Who knows the whole story about what followed. And who knows what he has turned into.

Spin away.

Since you are such a stats queen. Here you go with Nate's carrer stats:

year -- team -- games --catches -- yards -- TD's
2003 ---MIN------16------ 29 -------455 ----2
2004 ---MIN------16 ------68 ------1,006--- 9
2005 -- MIN ----- 12------ 30 -------328--- 1
2006 -- SEA------ 16 ----- 18 -------192---- 2
2007--- SEA----- 16------ 50 --------694 ---9

So much for that angle.

No one said Nate Burleson was "great"...but he did have a good season last year. And go figure...Randy Moss was playing on another team. Perhaps with your six degrees of Moss seperation you can figure out a way Moss helped him catch those 9 tds and 700 yards.

You asked what Burleson was doing lately and i told you. So much for that angle. LOL

agree dante was mostly a bust..he should have stayed in chi town and been a star..

That's the job of a QB!!!! No one is putting down Moss, or saying Culpepper is some all time superstar but he was a very good QB for a stretch before his knee injury. Yes, he struggled to adapt in the short stretch between Moss and the injury but there was also a five game stretch in the middle of the 2004 season where Moss was injured and didn't have a catch and he put up QB ratings of 103.2, 62.1, 121.3, 117.9, and 97.5. Even if you add those 7 games the following season to those five games he comes up with a solid 83.7 QB rating while working with a receiving crew that you would be generous to call below average.

As a Vikes fan, over the years the guy would make us pull our hair out... He had some incredible seasons, but he also from game by game could look really inept and then brilliant the next.

I think a lot of Vikes fans as the years wore on got tired of the inconsistency. The year that Ferrotte subbed for Duante when he got hurt for a few games, he was really effective, and the fans wanted Ferrotte in there permanently. Yes, Gus Ferrotte, the career-journeyman who injured his neck intentionally ramming his head into a wall after a TD lol.

I've heard that his knee is finally healthy, so if the right situation comes along, or he swallows his pride, he'll play again. Let's hope that he manages his money a little better than Spreewell, so he doesn't have to come back because he's broke lol. I give his chances of coming back 50-50.

They both tried out, passed their physicals, and discussed contracts. Culpepper was not really interested in being a back up for the minimum. This made the decision easy for the Steelers, who then signed Leftwich who was excited to get back in the league.

Lord Byron should help Ben out alot and be dependable as a backup. he'll give the steelers a totally different look from Ben.

I'm hoping I don't ever get to see him. :D

good idea. that would mean the o-line and running game are doing their job.

which makes you wonder why he tried out-did he really think he would be anything other than a back up in pitt?

i heard yesterday, he is acting as his own agent. he has himself way over valued, making his asking price to high. someone will be desperate in a few weeks and sign him.

I think part of the issue was the Steelers did not know at the time if they would IR Batch. He did not want to be the 3rd QB,and is hoping for a better opportunity to showcase himself for the future.

he should have contacted atlanta. or the redskins. my god that game was painful to watch.

I guess we will find out if Moss can make Matt Cassel look like an All-Star QB